1:7 Your land is devastated,
your cities burned with fire.
Right before your eyes your crops
are being destroyed by foreign invaders. 1
They leave behind devastation and destruction. 2
1:8 Daughter Zion 3 is left isolated,
like a hut in a vineyard,
or a shelter in a cucumber field;
she is a besieged city. 4
1:3 They said to me, “The remnant that remains from the exile there in the province are experiencing considerable 15 adversity and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem lies breached, and its gates have been burned down!” 16
3:12 I will leave in your midst a humble and meek group of people, 17
and they will find safety in the Lord’s presence. 18
13:8 It will happen in all the land, says the Lord,
that two-thirds of the people 19 in it will be cut off and die,
but one-third will be left in it. 20
13:9 Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire;
I will refine them like silver is refined
and will test them like gold is tested.
They will call on my name and I will answer;
I will say, ‘These are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” 21
1 tn Heb “As for your land, before you foreigners are devouring it.”
2 tn Heb “and [there is] devastation like an overthrow by foreigners.” The comparative preposition כְּ (kÿ, “like, as”) has here the rhetorical nuance, “in every way like.” The point is that the land has all the earmarks of a destructive foreign invasion because that is what has indeed happened. One could paraphrase, “it is desolate as it can only be when foreigners destroy.” On this use of the preposition in general, see GKC 376 §118.x. Many also prefer to emend “foreigners” here to “Sodom,” though there is no external attestation for such a reading in the
3 tn Heb “daughter of Zion” (so KJV, NASB, NIV). The genitive is appositional, identifying precisely which daughter is in view. By picturing Zion as a daughter, the prophet emphasizes her helplessness and vulnerability before the enemy.
4 tn Heb “like a city besieged.” Unlike the preceding two comparisons, which are purely metaphorical, this third one identifies the reality of Israel’s condition. In this case the comparative preposition, as in v. 7b, has the force, “in every way like,” indicating that all the earmarks of a siege are visible because that is indeed what is taking place. The verb form in MT is Qal passive participle of נָצַר (natsar, “guard”), but since this verb is not often used of a siege (see BDB 666 s.v. I נָצַר), some prefer to repoint the form as a Niphal participle from II צוּר (tsur, “besiege”). However, the latter is not attested elsewhere in the Niphal (see BDB 848 s.v. II צוּר).
5 tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him” (cf. NRSV).
6 tn Or “rebuke” (KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “correction.”
7 tn Or “contempt”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “disgrace.”
8 tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”
9 tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”
10 tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”
11 tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”
12 tn Heb “brothers.”
13 tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “to me”; these words were supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
14 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
15 tn Heb “great.”
16 tn Heb “have been burned with fire” (so also in Neh 2:17). The expression “burned with fire” is redundant in contemporary English; the translation uses “burned down” for stylistic reasons.
17 tn Heb “needy and poor people.” The terms often refer to a socioeconomic group, but here they may refer to those who are humble in a spiritual sense.
18 tn Heb “and they will take refuge in the name of the
19 tn The words “of the people” are supplied in the translation for clarity (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).
20 sn The fractions mentioned here call to mind the affliction of God’s people described by Ezekiel, though Ezekiel referred to his own times whereas Zechariah is looking forward to a future eschatological age. Ezekiel spoke of cutting his hair at God’s command (Ezek 5:1-4) and then of burning a third of it, striking a third with a sword, and scattering the rest. From this last third a few hairs would survive to become the nucleus of a new Israel. It is this “third” Zechariah speaks of (v. 9), the remnant who will be purified and reclaimed as God’s covenant people.
21 sn The expression I will say ‘It is my people,’ and they will say ‘the
22 tn Traditionally, “great tribulation.”
23 sn Suffering unlike anything that has happened. Some refer this event to the destruction of Jerusalem in